Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work Novel - Chapter 119

My hand slipped.

Coins spilled out from the belly of the stuffed doll’s severed lower half.

“…!”

I hurriedly tried to block them, then meaninglessly put the two pieces of the stuffed doll back together.

“Brown?”

But, of course, there was no response.

The upper half of the cotton doll just slid down over the lower half.

“…….”

No…

No, that’s not right. Maybe it’s because I’m still watching it…!

“Brown.”

I turned my head and, with my eyes closed, held the doll close to my ear.

Then…

-■■, ■■■■■….

“…!!”

A vibration came from the doll.

It was definitely a signal.

But it was very faint, crackling like a radio frequency that had been accidentally brushed past.

‘It’s still there.’

It was still there. In that case…

‘The Blood Bath!’

Click. I immediately locked the train bathroom door. Then, from the tattoo on my wrist, I pulled out a small bathtub with a checkered pattern and blonde hair.

The so-called Tub of Youth.

Thump, the bathtub stood on the floor. I carefully placed the almost-severed doll inside, and then…

I picked up the cutter blade dropped by a passenger who had fainted after being attacked.

I sliced my forearm with it.

Blood streamed out from the burst blood vessel.

‘In an urgent situation like this, there are no alternatives…!’

If I cut the arm of a fainted person, they might wake up, or I might not be able to stop the bleeding.

‘I can’t tolerate a situation I can’t control any further.’

My blood poured into the Blood Bath. The scent of wood and fragrant aroma diffused strongly.

Fully absorbing the bath bomb, the doll began to swell and grow larger, as if inflating…

It was rejuvenating.

The stuffed doll’s fur became cleaner and shinier, and an enigmatic light emanated from its pebble-like eyes.

And its size began to increase rapidly.

It was as if it had crossed some kind of boundary. The doll, soaked in the bath bomb, grew from keyring size to something that filled both my hands.

Just like the original ‘Good Friend’ doll.

Thump-thump-thump.

The bow-tie shaped hair tie couldn’t withstand the pressure and flew off, sticking to the side of the tub.

The change was that definite.

But, but…

The doll remained silent.

“…….”

I held my breath, turned my head, and listened to the doll again.

Even the vibration I had heard earlier was gone.

The stuffed doll, cut at the waist, simply floated on the fragrant bath bomb water in the Blood Bath…

“…….”

I stared at the doll again.

The ‘Good Friend’ stuffed doll, now large enough to fill the small Blood Bath, gleamed as if it had just been handcrafted by an artisan and shipped.

But it remained severed.

‘Ah.’

The Tub of Youth, as its name suggests, restores youth… it doesn’t heal injuries.

“…….”

I actually knew.

No, I knew, but I did it anyway…

The Good Friend stuffed doll was broken.

I took a deep breath.

‘…It’s okay.’

I can get another one.

Right, I can get it from its original source, not just a merchandise box, can’t I?

Pleasure Theme Park still existed. The Good Friend stuffed doll was something that could be obtained from its souvenir shop.

‘I was going to go there anyway, so it’s actually more efficient.’

I’ll get a Good Friend doll there. And if I summon it again just as I did before…

…….

“……Ha.”

Don’t be ridiculous.

I already knew, didn’t I?

The ‘Good Friend’ summoning method isn’t about calling a specific entity, but calling ‘someone from the other side of the world.’

‘What guarantee is there that the same entity will appear if I summon it again?’

No, rather, it would be strange if the exact same entity were summoned again.

I read Chronicles of Darkness Exploration for the fun of seeing different entities appear with each summoning record, after all.

‘Haha,’

Ha…

“…….”

At this point, I had no choice but to admit it.

Regardless of mental contamination, I had grown quite fond of this bizarre stuffed doll…

‘But how could I not?’

Because it truly was a ‘Good Friend.’

A friend who encouraged me when I was struggling, got angry with me when I was angry, with whom I could have deep conversations, and watch entertainment shows late at night.

A friend who prioritized me without calculation.

Those are the kinds of friends you only meet in school when you’re young…

“…….”

Right.

Let’s try to do more.

“Should I try to sew it?”

If that doesn’t work, I can look for restoration items, or enter a ghost story that repairs objects… there were many things I could search for information on and try.

For my own sanity’s sake.

“Let’s do it.”

I calmed down a bit.

My mind, which had been overly flustered by the unexpected and unforeseeable incident, regained its composure and began to calculate.

‘First, deal with the immediate situation.’

I put my hand into the Blood Bath and pulled out Brown’s dangling upper and lower halves.

And it was the moment I was about to roughly tidy the stuffing and store the doll.

‘Huh?’

A flapping piece of cloth on the back of the stuffed doll caught my eye.

A small, square silk tag sewn onto the seam connecting the head and body.

‘…A tag?’

It seemed that what had previously sprouted like a trace in the Blood Bath had fully returned after this bath.

‘Is it the ‘Good Friend’s… product label?’

You know, those things. Where it shows the origin, washing instructions, care methods, or maybe the buyer’s or creator’s signature.

My gaze inadvertently fell upon it.

It certainly had the standard size and format of a label, with tiny, unreadable characters written in strange, wavy lines.

But something overwhelmingly more noticeable stood out.

Above all that information, a giant, scrawled black marker text, like censorship:

REMOVE LABEL REQUIRED

[Ah.]

[So you were here.]

Thud.

A huge hand snatched the tag.

It was a hand wearing a neatly tailored suit glove.

Its thumb swiftly covered the text on the label, almost completely obscuring it, and pulled the tag.

[Found it.]

That hand.

It was surging up from inside the half-broken ‘Good Friend’ doll I was holding.

Crrackle.

The lower half of the doll split open, and an arm fully emerged from within, followed by a shoulder, and then the other arm violently pushed out, bracing itself on the sink.

Soon, the rest of the colossal body poured out, filling the small bathroom.

A massive body clad in a neatly tailored brown three-piece suit, long legs, black laced shoes underneath, and…

A spherical television set where its head should be.

A smile.

[]

The colossal spherical TV head, forcing its way out of the completely shattered lower half of the doll, leaned towards me.

[Ms. Soleum!]

The head shook.

The Host was gripping my shoulder.

[Oh, you must have worried about me a lot. Haha! You don’t have to worry anymore. Behold… the reliable Host, Brown, has arrived!]

The Host from the ghost story dangled the tag between his fingers. The tattered upper half of the stuffed doll swayed.

[Ah, restoring this tag was truly an excellent choice! Thanks to it, I was able to find this address. Phew.]

[Ah, I won’t refuse admiration, praise, and applause, but… haha, to be humble, it was possible because I had just finished my live broadcast rehearsal.]

[Anyway, we will meet again soon!]

“…….”

[Mr. Soleum?]

What is this?

[…You don’t seem very happy. Hmm… Ah, is it because this cotton doll is broken? Yes, the audience is always influenced by what they see… That’s it!]

Snap.

The Host snapped his fingers.

[How about this?]

The emoticon disappeared from the TV head.

Instead, something walked out, thump-thump-thump, onto the screen.

…It was the Good Friend bunny doll wearing a bow tie.

[Here it is, your friend, the body filled with cotton! Isn’t it still cute even on my screen? Oh, it’s waving its hand.]

“Good Friend is…”

[Yes. Isn’t it here? Your Good Friend! I, Brown, that is!]

No.

“Good Friend is…”

“…the doll.”

…….

…….

[Mr. Soleum.]

Click.

A pinpoint spotlight shone down on the narrow studio space that was once a bathroom.

Now, the spotlight illuminated the legendary Host and me.

I couldn’t turn my head.

[You seemed reserved for some reason, but you were greatly mistaken… It’s alright. Though it’s hard for me to say it myself, the one standing before you now is a very kind and capable show host.]

[I’ve always had a knack for explanations. Now…]

The gloved hand properly picked up the broken doll, not the tag.

The Good Friend bunny doll that had been broadcast on the TV screen, which was its head, swiftly vanished, and in its place, the smiling emoticon returned.

And then…

Whoosh.

…The Good Friend stuffed doll in the Host’s hand.

It was incinerated.

[This is nothing.]

Tap-tap, as the Host brushed his hands, less than a handful of ash fell from his glove and scattered onto the floor.

I stared blankly at it.

But.

‘It wasn’t about letting only a part of it dwell in the doll, making it like a friend…’

[Now… let’s remember again. How did you call your friend?]

…….

A strange object that invites someone from the other side of the world, traps a part of their consciousness in a doll, and makes them a friend.

So,

I, using the stuffed doll, a necktie, and coins…

[You invited me.]

The Host pointed to himself.

[Will a dinner appointment be canceled if the phone breaks? Will a bill disappear if the mailbox is destroyed? Will lovers break up if a love letter is torn? We already know the answer.]

[No!]

[Then… here’s a question.]

[Will breaking the doll cancel your invitation?]

The Host spread his arms.

[Of course not!]

Ah.

[What you performed was an eternal ritual. Oh, yes…]

“…….”

My stiff mind slowly formulated a sentence.

‘So,’

The Good Friend ritual wasn’t about summoning only a part of a non-human entity and trapping it in a doll to make it a friend.

It was merely that the entity was partially revealed, limited by the filter of the stuffed doll.

Like, a children’s role-play.

[Do you still wish to call this ritual ‘friend’? Then I have become your friend forever, Ms. Soleum! Oh, what a wonderful phrase, eternal friendship!]

The TV head’s emoticon briefly showed a teary-eyed expression of emotion before returning to a smiling face.

[And our MVP participant, you are a master of timing this time too! It’s a very good time. Ms. Soleum…]

The hand on my shoulder patted my back encouragingly.

And it said.

[The preparations for a new talk show are complete.]

“……!”

[New cast, new set, new music, new season… All filming preparations are done. My humble talk show, solely for the audience’s enjoyment.]

[With great pleasure, I introduce your new workplace…]

No.

I instinctively recoiled.

Open the door and just get out, escape this spotlight and clear my head, my thoughts…

[Oh dear.]

The smiling emoticon inside the TV head disappeared.

No.

The screen went black.

[You claimed to be such a fan of my show and enjoyed it so much just by applying to be a participant, yet you’d try to run away at the moment of opportunity to be part of the talk show? You, who have received my advice and help, my full support and dedication, making such a choice.]

[Ms. Soleum, wasn’t friendship originally a complementary relationship? This emotional and unilateral rejection! I, I… my heart aches.]

I felt like I was going to throw up.

“I-I’m sorry…”

[Oh dear! But there’s no need to apologize, Ms. Soleum. Thoughtless apologies are not a virtue needed by a show creator.]

[And I am always a host who can observe and understand the true thoughts and feelings of others…]

[So.]

The next moment.

[This Brown will persuade you with all his heart and soul.]

Wide open.

The screen filled with smiling emoticons.

Filled.

Completely filled.

“Wait…”

But the giant spherical TV head came closer and closer.

Closer.

Even closer.

[Now…]